Ontario regulator’s chief delays retirement plans
iGaming Ontario has engaged a recruitment firm to help in its task to find a new chief executive before the end of March next year to replace Martha Otton Martha Otton, the executive director of iGaming Ontario (iGO), has agreed to delay her retirement until March 2025 while the regulator continues the hunt for her successor
Martha Otton, the executive director of iGaming Ontario (iGO), has agreed to delay her retirement until March 2025 while the regulator continues the hunt for her successor.
In August, Otton revealed plans to step down from her post on December 31, 2024, bringing an end to four years at the helm of the regulator.
However, those plans have been put back three months, with the authority’s board revealing that a recruitment firm has been engaged to try and help the process of naming a new chief executive.
A statement from iGO noted: “The board remains committed to iGaming Ontario’s vision, and to continue building on our collective work to establish and grow Ontario’s igaming market.
“While the search for her successor is ongoing, and to help facilitate an orderly transition, Martha has graciously agreed to delay her retirement and remain as iGaming Ontario’s chief executive until March 31, 2025.
“Martha’s continuation in this role will ensure the agency’s steady leadership of Ontario’s competitive igaming market.”
Otton was named as iGO’s executive director in February 2021, after it was established that the authority would work as an offshoot of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), with the regulated market going live 14 months later in April 2022.
Over the course of her tenure, Otton has overseen a market that now boasts 50 licensed operators running 82 sites within the province.
Upon release of the news of Otton’s imminent exit, the departing iGO executive director was labelled a “visionary” by Heidi Reinhart, chair of the regulator.
In July of this year, EGR North America spoke exclusively to Otton as part of its analysis into the success of the Ontario market she helped shape and how it could be used as a model for future regulation in Canada.
Arnold Ash is EGR’s Executive Recruitment Partner. They support ambitious organisations to identify and attract industry leading executive talent. Find out more here.